Is It An Allergy Headache Or Acute Sinusitis?

If you do an Internet search for headache you’ll find the Internet is rich with information about every kind of headache you can think of except for one — the allergy headache. Although there are many sites that claim to have treatments for the allergy headache, there isn’t much good information about them because the truth is, headaches caused by allergies are very infrequent.

According to two well-known physicians, Dr. David Marks (health and medical investigative reporter for WNBC), and Dr. Alan M. Rapoport (director and co-founder of The New England Center for Headache in Stamford, Connecticut and Assistant Clinical Professor of Neurology at the Yale University School of Medicine), those who complain of allergy headache typically are victims of acute sinusitis. Allergies can create nasal congestion that results in sinus blockage. Both the sinus headache and what you think is an “allergy headache” are the results of conditions that should be diagnosed and treated by your doctor.

Unfortunately, a lot of hucksters and snake-oil sales people will try to pull you in and promise products that offer relief for the allergy headache. Both their claims and there products are most often “diag-nonsense”. In fact some sites propose using steroids to treat the allergy headache. Don’t believe a word of it!

Lucky for you — the Internet, at your fingertips, provides you with a wealth of information that will keep you from laying out your hard-earned dollars for these bogus “medicines”. In researching this article, I found some excellent sites that offer good information from reputable and noted professionals in the field of headache research, diagnosis, and treatment. If you believe you have an allergy headache please use them to get an overview of your symptoms that you can confidently take to your family physician.

The American Council for Headache Education (ACHE) * http://www.achenet.org/ * is a non-profit patient-health care professional source of up-to-date headache information.

The National Headache Foundation (NHF) * http://www.headaches.org/consumer/index.html * is a 34 year-old organization that provides information for headache sufferers and health care professionals, promotes public awareness of the headache as a valid, biological disease, and promotes research into causes and treatments of headache.

One leading US health-care provider, AETNA maintains the AETNA inteliHealth site * http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/408/408.html# *, which has an extensive section on headache causes and remedies.

The next time your sneeze causes a headache, don’t waste your time or money looking for cures for your allergy headache. Instead, trace it back to its source and find valid information on headache from qualified professionals who offer you their expertise for free — on the Internet!